Reproducing apparatus

ABSTRACT

A reproducing apparatus for reproducing signals from a record bearing medium, on which a video signal and some other signal are recorded in a plurality of blocks, includes discriminating circuitry for determining at least whether the signal recorded in each of the blocks is a video signal or other signal, a storing device for storing the result of the discrimination made by the discriminating circuitry, a reproducing unit for selectively reproducing the records of the blocks on the basis of information obtained from the storage device, and a display. Control of the apparatus is such that, if a signal recorded in a block currently accessed for reproduction is determined not to be a video signal, the display so indicates.

This is a continuation application under 37 CFR 1.62 of priorapplication Ser. No. 08/128,047 filed on Sep. 27, 1993 (aban.) which isa cont. of Ser. No. 07/779,132 filed on Oct. 16, 1991 (aban.) which is acont. of Ser. No. 07/624,512 filed on Dec. 7,1990 (aban.) which is acont. of Ser. No. 07/190,594 filed on May 5, 1988 (aban.)

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a reproducing apparatus for reproducinginformation signals such as an audio signal, a video signal, etc.,recorded in a plurality of recording blocks within storing means such asa magnetic disc or the like.

2. Description of the Related Art

Heretofore, on the magnetic disc from which the signal record is to bereproduced by the apparatus of the above stated kind, a video signal andan audio signal are recorded on one and the same disc in a commingledstate. Meanwhile, for reproduction of the recorded audio signal, somecontrol data is also recorded along with the audio signal in each audiosignal recording track. The audio signal recording track can be any ofthe tracks available on the disc as there is no particular restrictionson the selection of the audio recording track.

In reproducing a record from the disc on which the video and audiosignals are recorded in a commingled state, however, if the reproducingapparatus is arranged to be capable of reproducing nothing else but thevideo signal and if any RF signal is recorded in a track, the apparatusconsiders it to be recorded track. In that event, the apparatusdemodulates the reproduced RF signal by a reproduction processingcircuit and supplies it to a monitor. Then, when an audio signal isreproduced from an audio signal a recording track under such acondition, the reproduced audio signal becomes hardly acceptable.

Summary of the Invention

It is an object of this invention to provide a reproducing apparatuswhich solves the above stated problem of the prior art and is arrangedto be capable of reproducing a video signal from a record bearing mediumwithout being affected by any signal other than the video signal in casethat the video signal is recorded together with other signals on thesame recording medium.

It is another object of the invention to provide a reproducing apparatuswhich is arranged to preclude any signal other than a video signal frombeing reproduced by mistake on a monitor.

Under this object, a reproducing apparatus arranged according to thisinvention as a preferred embodiment thereof to reproduce signals from aplurality of blocks formed on a record bearing medium having a videosignal and other signals recorded there comprises: discriminating meansfor discriminating the signals recorded within the blocks by making adiscrimination at least between a video signal and other signals;storing means for storing the result of the discrimination made by thediscriminating means; reproducing means for selectively reproducingsignals from the blocks on the basis of data obtained from the storingmeans; and display means which, in the event of that the signal recordedin each block is found to be not a video signal, makes a display showingthe finding on a monitor.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a reproducingapparatus which, in reproducing a video signal while changing thereproducing position thereof on a record bearing medium from oneposition over to another, is capable of adequately accomplishingreproduction without being affected by signals other than the videosignal.

Under that object, a reproducing apparatus embodying this invention as apreferred embodiment thereof for reproducing signals from a recordbearing medium on which video and audio signals are recorded in acommingled state is provided with an operation part which instructs fora renewal of a reproducing position; and is arranged to reproduce theaudio signal after detecting that no instruction is made for a change inthe reproducing position, so that audio signal record bearing blocks canbe skipped without reproducing the audio signal during the so-calledfast-feed reproduction.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a reproducingapparatus which is capable of reproducing a video signal and aninformation signal related to the video signal in an adequately combinedstate from a record bearing medium on which they are recorded in acommingled state.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a reproducingapparatus which is capable of reproducing a video signal and an audiosignal related to the video signal in an adequate sequence from a recordbearing medium on which they are recorded in a commingled state.

Under this object, a reproducing apparatus embodying the invention as apreferred embodiment thereof for reproducing signals from a recordbearing medium having a video signal record together with a record ofsequences of sounds represented by an audio signal which continuestimewise straddling a plurality of recording tracks is arranged to havethe following functions, in case where the medium bears a plurality ofsound or audio signal sequences: A function in which reproduction isserially performed for each audio signal sequence according to the tracknumber assigned to the first track of each of these sequences; andanother function in which reproduction is serially performed accordingto a video signal recording track corresponding to the first audiosignal record track of each audio signal sequence.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a reproducingapparatus which is capable of selecting one of different reproducingorders as desired.

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent fromthe following detailed description of embodiments thereof taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of this invention.FIGS. 3 and 4 are block diagrams showing the details of the reproducedsignal discrimination circuit shown in FIG. 1. FIGS. 5(a) and 5(b) showthe format in which audio signal is recorded in recording tracks. FIGS.2, 6, 7 and 8 are flow charts showing the operation of a systemcontroller 18 shown in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 9(a) and 9(b) show another example of the recording medium. FIG.10 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the invention. FIGS.11 to 20 are flow charts showing the operation of a system controllershown in FIG. 10. FIGS. 21(a), 21(b) and 21(c) are illustrations of thesignal reproducing order of the reproducing apparatus arranged as thesame embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The embodiment of this invention described below is provided with adiscrimination circuit which is arranged in combination with areproduced RF signal detection circuit to demodulate a reproduced RFsignal when the RF signal is detected and to discriminate the recordedsignal between a video signal and an audio signal. Further, when a discemployed as record storing means is set in place, all the recordingtracks are first reproduced and information thus obtained from the abovestated discrimination circuit is stored at a memory disposed within asystem controller. Then, in selectively reproducing records from thetracks, the audio signal records are first reproduced from audio signaltracks and supplied to a monitor, so that any disagreeable noises can beprevented from being generated. However, it is to be understood that theinvention is of course not limited to the apparatus of this kind.

In other words, while a magnetic record bearing disc is employed as thestoring means having a plurality of storing blocks in the case of thisspecific embodiment, the magnetic disc may be replaced with atape-shaped record bearing medium or with a semiconductor memory or sucha solid-state memory as a Bloch line memory.

The embodiment is arranged as shown in a block diagram in FIG. 1, whichincludes: A magnetic disc 1; a DC motor 2 which is arranged to rotatethe magnetic disc 1 at a given speed; a magnetic head 3; a head shiftingdevice 4 which is arranged to shift the position of the magnetic head 3;a head driving motor 5 which is provided for driving the head shiftingdevice 4; a motor driver 6 which is arranged to drive the head drivingmotor 5; an innermost track detection switch (SW) 7 which is arranged toturn on when the magnetic head 3 has access to the innermost track onthe magnetic disc 1; a magnetic disc detection device 8 which consistsof a photo transistor and a light emitting diode; a DC motor driver 9which is arranged to drive the DC motor 2; a servo circuit 10 which isarranged to control the DC motor driver 9 for causing the magnetic disc1 to rotate at a constant speed; a reproduction amplifier 11 which isarranged to amplify a reproduced signal coming from the magnetic head 3;a frequency demodulation circuit 12 which is arranged to demodulate asignal coming from the reproduction amplifier 11; a mute control circuit13 which is arranged to determine whether the signal output of thefrequency demodulation circuit 12 is to be muted or not; and a monitordriver 14 which is arranged to drive a monitor 15. Further, an envelopedetection circuit 16 is arranged to receive the signal from thereproduction amplifier 11 and to detect the envelope thereof. The outputof the envelope detection circuit 16 is supplied to a system controller18. A reproduced signal discrimination circuit 17 is arranged to receivethe output signal of the frequency demodulation circuit 12 and to supplythe output thereof to the system controller 18. A ROM 19 is arranged tostore the control program of the system controller 18. A RAM 20 isarranged to have reading and writing actions performed thereon by thesystem controller 18. A track-up switch (or up-switch) SW1 and atrack-down switch (or down-switch) SW2 are connected to the systemcontroller 18. A PG pulse generator 21 is arranged to generate a PGpulse signal in synchronism with the rotation of the magnetic disc 1.The output of the PG pulse generator 21 is supplied to the servo circuit10 and the reproduced signal discrimination circuit 17. A metal piece isburied in the magnetic disc 1. The PG pulse signal is generated withthis metal piece detected by the PG pulse generator 21. An audio trackreproduction display device 25 is arranged to make a display indicativeof reproduction from audio signal record bearing tracks.

This embodiment operates as follows: A total of 50 tracks are formed onthe magnetic disc 1. Of these tracks, a track formed in the outermostpart of the magnetic disc 1 is considered to be the first track and atrack formed in the innermost part of the disc 1 to be the 50th track.An action of shifting the magnetic head 3 toward the innermost part ofthe magnetic disc 1 hereinafter will be called a track up action and anaction of shifting it toward the outermost part of the disc 1 a trackdown action.

Referring to the flow chart of FIG. 2 which shows the operation of thesystem controller 18, when the magnetic disc 1 is set in place, theoperation of the embodiment is performed as follows: A power supply iseffected to the apparatus when a power supply switch which is not shownis closed. Then, an initial setting action is performed with the systemcontroller 18 reset. The mute control circuit 13 is then initialized insuch a way as to have its output muted. At a step S1 after completion ofthe initializing process, a check is made to find if the magnetic disc 1is set in place through the signal of the magnetic disc detection device8 supplied to the system controller 18. If the magnetic disc 1 is foundto have been set, the flow of operation proceeds to a step S2. At StepS2: The system controller 18 controls the servo circuit 10 to cause themagnetic disc 1 to be rotated by the DC motor driver 9 and the DC motor2. At a step S3: The system controller 18 makes a check for the on oroff-state of the switch 7 to see if the magnetic head 3 has access tothe 50th track which is located in the innermost place of the disc 1. Ifthe switch 7 is found to be on, the flow of operation comes to a stepS5. If not the flow proceeds to a step S4. At the step S4: The magnetichead 3 is shifted inward to an extent corresponding to one track. Thehead 3 is shifted by the head shifting device 4 with the motor driver 6controlled and caused by the controller 18 to drive the head drivingmotor 5. In other words, the head 3 eventually comes to have access tothe innermost track (the 50th track) with the steps S3 and S4 repeatedlyexecuted. With the head 3 having come to the innermost track, the flowproceeds to the step S5. Step S5: A parameter N for setting an addressat the RAM 20 is set at 50. The parameter N is indicative of also acurrent track position. Next, the flow proceeds to a step S6. Step S6: Acheck is made for the on-state of the DC motor 2. If the motor 2 isfound to be on, the flow proceeds to a step S7. If not, the flowbranches off to the step S1. In other words, the flow is arranged tocome to the step 7 with the motor 2 having been turned on. Thisindicates that the magnetic disc 1 has been set in place. Step S7: Thesystem controller 18 reads the output of the envelope detection circuit16 to find whether there is an envelope. If the envelope is found, theflow proceeds to a step S8. If not, the flow comes to a step S11. At thestep S8: The system controller 18 reads the output of the reproducedsignal discrimination circuit 17 to find whether the reproduced signalis a video signal or something else. If the signal is found to be avideo signal, the flow proceeds to a step S9. If not, the flow comes toa step S10. At steps S9, S10 and S11: At the address N of the RAM 20,"11" is written into the RAM 20 in case that the reproduced signal is avideo signal, "10" in the case of some other signal and "00" in the caseof no envelope. In other words, data is set at the RAM 20 indicatingwhether the signal recorded in the track N is a video signal orindicating whether the track is a vacant track. After this, the flowproceeds to a step S12. At the step S12, a check is made to find if theparameter N is "1." If not, the flow proceeds to a step S13. Step S13:The head 3 is shifted in the track down direction. Step S14: From thevalue of the parameter N is subtracted "1" and the flow branches off tothe step S7 to perform the same action as mentioned in the foregoing. Incase that a state of N=1 is found at the step S12, it indicates thatdata on all the tracks from the 50th track to the first track has beencompletely written into the RAM 20. In that instance, therefore, theflow proceeds to a step S15 and thus comes to an end.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the reproduced signal discrimination circuit 17is arranged as follows: The circuit 17 is arranged to receive as aninput thereof the output of the frequency demodulation circuit 12. Thecircuit 17 includes a synchronizing (hereinafter referred to as sync forshort) signal separation circuit 30. In case that the input signal is avideo signal, the sync signal included in the video signal is separatedby the circuit 30. The output signal of the circuit 30 is supplied to ahorizontal sync counter 31 and a vertical sync signal separation circuit32. The horizontal sync counter 31 is arranged to be reset by a signalproduced from the vertical sync signal separation circuit 32. Morespecifically, the horizontal sync counter 31 counts the pulses of thehorizontal sync signal for a period of time between one vertical syncsignal and another to produce a high level signal indicative of that thereproduced signal is a video signal in case that the counted valuethereof is within a given range, for example, from 256 to 270. In short,the reproduced signal discrimination circuit 17 makes a discriminationbetween a video signal and some other signal by detecting the number ofsync signals included in the input signal. Despite of the simplearrangement thereof, the circuit 17 is capable of adequately making thediscrimination. Therefore, the step S8 of FIG. 2 can be executed on thebasis of the output of the circuit 17.

Further, for more reliable result of discrimanation of the reproducedsignal, the circuit 17 may be arranged to make a discrimination betweenan audio signal and some other signal as shown in FIG. 4. Brieflystated, the recording format of the audio signal is as follows: FIG.5(a) shows one of the audio record tracks formed on the magnetic disc.Each of the audio record track is divided into four sectors SE1, SE2,SE3 and SE4. FIG. 5(b) shows by way of example the format of the sector.Within each of the sectors, an audio sector start signal is recorded asa start flag ST at a start point of the sector. The start flag ST isfollowed by a control code CD which is provided for reproduction of theaudio signal record track. The control code CD includes data for thetime base compression rate of the audio signal, a video signal recordingtrack No. to which the audio signal is correlated and, in the case thatthe audio signal record is continuously extending over a plurality oftracks, the track No. of the track at which the audio signal recordbegins and that of an ensuing audio signal record track, etc. The audiosignal is recorded within an area following such data in a time basecompressed state. To maintain the continuity among the audio signalrecords of sectors, the audio signal includes an overlapped part OVwhich is located at the beginning of the audio signal recording area.After the audio signal recording area, an end flag END is recorded toindicate the end of the sector. A flag detection circuit 33 of FIG. 4 isarranged to detect the start flag ST of the audio sector shown in FIG.5(b). Therefore, the discrimination as to whether a track is an audiorecord track or not can be made by detecting this start flag ST. Morespecifically, since the start flag ST exists at the start point of eachof the four sectors of an audio signal record track, a timing signalgenerator 34 is arranged to generate gate pulses at time pointscorresponding to the start flags on the basis of the PG signal which isgenerated per turn of the magnetic disc 1. Therefore, the presence orabsence of the start flag ST can be found through this arrangement. Incase that the start flag ST is detected by a flag detection circuit 33,a signal is supplied to the system controller 18 informing it that thetrack is an audio signal record track. Further, in the event ofdetection of the audio signal, a portion of FIG. 2 including the stepsS8 to S11 is changed as shown in the flow chart of FIG. 6. Referring toFIG. 6, data "01" is written, at steps S10' and S10", into the RAM 20 asdata indicative of the audio signal record track.

The video signal is actually reproduced from the magnetic disc 1 in thefollowing manner: The embodiment is assumed to have the reproducedsignal discrimination circuit 17 arranged as shown in FIG. 4, i.e.,arranged to be capable of finding the reproduced signal to be a videosignal or an audio signal or some other signal. When the magnetic disc 1is set in place according to the flow of operation as shown in FIGS. 2and 6, record information (or data) on all the tracks from the 50th tothe first track is automatically stored in the RAM 20. With theinformation on the 50th to first tracks thus completely taken into theRAM 20, the embodiment comes to perform an actual reproducing operation.The actual reproducing operation is as shown in FIG. 7. The flow ofoperation comes from the step S15 of FIG. 2 to a step S16 of FIG. 7. Atthe step S16: Data stored at the address N of the RAM 20 (the initialvalue of N is "1") is checked to find if it is "11" which indicates avideo signal record. If so, the flow proceeds to a step S17. At the stepS17, an audio reproduction display which will be described later isturned off. At a step S18: The system controller 18 causes the mutecontrol circuit 13 to cancel its muting action and to allow thereproduced signal to be supplied to the monitor 15. In case that the RAMdata is found to be not "11" at the step S16, the flow comes to a stepS19. At the step S19: The RAM data is checked for "01". If the RAM datais found to be "01", the flow comes to a step S20. At the step S20: Theaudio track reproduction display is turned on. At a step S21: The systemcontroller 18 causes the mute control circuit 13 of FIG. 1 to mute theoutput. If the RAM data is found to be not "01" at the step S19, theflow comes to a step S22. At the step S22: The audio track reproductiondisplay of the display device 25 is turned off. Meanwhile, the flowcomes to the step S21 to mute the output to the monitor 15. Followingthat, the flow proceeds to a step S23. Step S23: The position of thetrack-up switch which corresponds to the switch SW1 of FIG. 1 ischecked. If the switch is found to be in an on-state, the flow comes toa step S25. If not, the flow proceeds to a step S24. Step S24: Theposition of the track-down switch which corresponds to the switch SW2 ofFIG. 1 is checked. If the switch is found to be in its off-state, theflow comes to a step S23. At the step S25: The value of the trackaddress N (RAM address) is checked for the last track. If it is found tobe the last track, the flow comes to the step S23. If not, the flowproceeds to a step S26. At the step S26: The value of the address N isincremented by one. The magnetic head 3 is shifted in the track-updirection. The flow then comes to the step S16 to repeat the abovestated reproduction control processes. In case that the flow comes fromthe step S24 to a step S27, the track address is checked for the firsttrack. If the address is found to be the first track, the flow comes tothe step S23. If not, the flow proceeds to a step S28. At the step S28:The magnetic head 3 is shifted in the track-down direction. The flowthen branches off to the step S16 to repeat the foregoing steps of flow.As apparent from the description given above, even in case that amagnetic disc having video and audio signals recorded thereon in acommingled state is set on an apparatus for reproducing only a videosignal, the embodiment effectively prevents disagreeable noises fromappearing on the monitor when the magnetic head comes to have access toan audio signal record track by virtue of the above stated arrangementof discriminating the records contained in all the tracks between theaudio or video signal and other signals when the disc is set on theapparatus. Further, the audio track reproduction display device 25 whichis encompassed with a broken line in FIG. 1 and is arranged to operatewhen the head is having access to an audio signal record track may beprovided with an LED or LCD, which enables the operator to know whethera currently accessed track is a vacant track. In the case of thisembodiment, data "10" is arranged to indicate a track bearing a recordwhich is neither a video signal nor an audio signal. If the data "10" isfound for a currently accessed track upon examination of the address Nof the RAM, a display may be made indicating that the record of thetrack is neither the video signal nor the audio signal.

In case that the reproduced signal discrimination circuit is arranged asshown in FIG 3 to make a discrimination between a video signal and someother signal, the data to be written into the RAM 20 include data "11"which indicates a video signal, data "10" which indicates a signal otherthan a video signal and data "00" which indicates a vacant track. Inthis instance, the display device may be also arranged to permitdiscrimination of tracks bearing the records of signals other than avideo signal from vacant tracks during the process of a reproducingaction on them.

In accordance with the arrangement of this embodiment as described inthe foregoing, the signal records of all the tracks formed on themagnetic disc are reproduced and each track is found to be a videorecord track (or an audio record track) or a vacant track when the discis set on the apparatus. The data thus obtained for each track is storedin the memory. A reproducing operation is then carried out withreference to the data thus stored beforehand. This arrangement not onlypermits muting any disagreeable noise to prevent it from being producedwhen the records are reproduced from tracks other than the video signalrecord track but also permits making a display showing the contents ofthe reproducing tracks. The arrangement thus enables the operator tocorrectly know the contents of the tracks.

The steps S17, S20 and S22 of FIG. 7 may be changed as shown at stepsS17', S20', S22', S29 and S30 of FIG. 8 with the audio trackreproduction display device 25 of FIG. 1 arranged to make a display ofthe contents of each reproducing track to discriminate a video signal oran audio signal from other signals and also from a vacant track. Morespecifically, at the step S17' of FIG. 8, a video signal reproductiondisplay is turned on . At the step S20', an audio signal reproductiondisplay is turned on. At the step S22', the data of RAM address N ischecked for the data "10". If the data is found to be "10", the flowcomes to the step S29. At the step S29, a display of reproduced signalother than the video or audio signal is turned on. At the step S30, adisplay of a vacant track is turned on. In the case of FIG. 8, theembodiment is thus arranged to make a display for each reproducingtrack. The above stated displays are arranged such that, when one ofthem is turned on, other two are automatically turned off.

In an example of modification of the embodiment, a display is made onthe monitor 15 showing whether or not a currently accessed reproducingtrack is an audio signal record track. Further, since a video signal anda time-base compressed audio signal or a digital data signal arerecordable on the magnetic disc, the display device may be arranged tobe capable of displaying that the reproduced signal is a video signal,audio signal, some other data or that the reproducing track is a vacanttrack by means of some LED or LCD or on a monitor.

While the embodiment is arranged to have record data for all the trackstaken into the memory when the magnetic disc is set in place, thearrangement may be changed to perform the storing action to be performedin response to the operation of a manual switch. In other words, theflow of operation as shown in FIG. 2 may be arranged to be executed whenan all-track search switch which is connected to the system controller18 of FIG. 1 is operated. In this case, if this all-track search switchis not operated, the record of the first track begins to be reproducedwithout having the record data of all the tracks stored in the memory.Then, the length of time required before commencement of actualreproduction from the magnetic disc can be shortened. The modificationis advantageous, for example, in looking up the contents of the magneticdisc.

The arrangement of the embodiment is not limited to the use of therecord bearing medium of the above stated kind and shape. Record bearingmedia other than the magnetic medium such as a tape-shaped medium 26 anda card-shaped medium 27 which are as shown in FIGS. 9(a) and 9(b), asolid-state memory such as a semi-conductor memory, etc. are of coursealso usable. In FIG. 9(a), reference numerals 28 and 29 denote tapewinding reels.

The arrangement of the embodiment to reproduce signals from each recordbearing block after finding the kind of the signal recorded in the blockensures that any disagreeable noise can be prevented from beingreproduced and appearing on the monitor.

The magnetic disc mentioned in the foregoing description of theembodiment has audio and video signals recorded thereon in a commingledstate. In order to reproduce the audio and video signals in combinationfrom the disc, the record of the audio track is reproduced and areproduction control information signal recorded there is demodulated tofind thereby a related video signal record track. After the audio signalis taken into the memory, the video signal is reproduced by havingaccess to the video signal record track found through the reproducedcontrol signal. Following that, the audio signal which has been takeninto the memory is reproduced through a time-base expanding process.

In carrying out a reproducing operation in the above stated manner, if acurrently accessed reproducing track is an audio record track, it isdifficult to promptly have access to an applicable related video signaltrack during a process of continuously shifting the reproducing trackfrom one track to another or during the process of a look-up operationfor a video signal record. There has been no method for promptlycarrying out such a reproducing process. Another embodiment of thisinvention which is shown in FIG. 10, etc., are arranged to solve thisproblem.

Referring to FIG. 10, the above stated embodiment is arranged asfollows: In FIG. 10, the same parts as those of FIG. 1 are indicated bythe same reference numerals and the details of them are omitted fromdescription. A video signal processing circuit 113 is arranged toreceive a signal produced from a frequency demodulation circuit 12 andis connected to a video mute control circuit 13. The output of thefrequency demodulation circuit 12 is supplied to an A/D conversioncircuit 116. The A/D conversion circuit 116 is arranged to receive aclock signal from an oscillation circuit 126. A memory 117 is arrangedto receive a signal produced from the A/D conversion circuit 116 and tohave its address controlled by an address signal coming from a memorycontroller 124, The memory 117 serves to expand the time base of anaudio signal which is time-base compressed, A D/A conversion circuit 118is arranged to convert the digital signal output of the memory 117 intoan analog signal, The output terminal of the D/A conversion circuit 118is connected to an audio signal processing circuit 119 which is arrangedto reduce the noise of the audio signal, The output terminal of theaudio signal processing circuit 119 is connected to an audio mutecircuit 120, The audio mute circuit 120 is a circuit block which isarranged to perform a muting action under the control of a systemcontroller 128 which will be described later, The output terminal of themute circuit 120 is connected to a speaker 121, An information signaldemodulation circuit 122 is arranged to receive a signal produced fromthe frequency demodulation circuit 12 and also a signal coming from atiming signal generating circuit 125 and to demodulate a control datasignal which is provided for reproduction of an audio signal recordcontained in an audio signal record track, The demodulated data signalthus produced from the information signal is arranged to be supplied. tothe system controller 128, A part of the demodulated data signal is alsosupplied to the timing signal generating circuit 125, A reproducedsignal discrimination circuit 123 is arranged to receive the signalproduced from the frequency demodulation circuit 12 and to find areproduced signal to be a video signal or some other signal. The outputof the discrimination circuit 123 is supplied to the system controller128. A memory controller 124 is arranged to control a memory 117 whichis provided for reading and writing an audio signal. The memorycontroller is a block including circuits for reading and writing controland address control over the memory. The timing signal generatingcircuit 125 is arranged to receive a PG pulse signal from a PG pulseoscillator 21 and the signal produced from the information signaldemodulation circuit 122. The circuit 125 generates a timing signal andsupplies it to the information signal demodulation circuit 122 and thememory controller 124. An oscillation circuit 126 is arranged togenerate a signal which serves as a reference clock for the A/Dconversion circuit 116 and the memory controller 124. Anotheroscillation circuit 127 is arranged to generate a signal and supplies itas a reference clock to the D/A conversion circuit 118 and the memorycontroller 124. The system controller 128 is arranged to control thewhole system of the embodiment. A ROM 129 is arranged to store a programfor control over the system controller. A RAM 130 is arranged to be usedby the system controller 128 for reading and writing. An up-switch (ortrack-up switch) SW1 is arranged in the same manner as in the case ofFIG. 1 to be used for shifting a magnetic head 3 toward a track locatedin an inner position on the magnetic disc 1. A down-switch (ortrack-down switch) SW2 is arranged to be used for shifting the head 3toward a track located in an outer position on the disc 1. An audioreproduction mode switch SW3 is provided for selection of an audiosignal reproducing mode.

The operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 10 is as described belowwith reference to flow charts showing the operation steps of the systemcontroller 128:

FIG. 11 is a flow chart which shows a reproduction starting operation.The flow of operation of FIG. 11 will be described covering only thediffering points of FIG. 11 from FIG. 2. In cases where the control dataCD indicative of the time-base compression rate of an audio signal and avideo signal track address corresponding to the audio signal is recordedin each of the audio signal record tracks and where the audio signalrecord is continuous over a plurality of tracks, information (or data)on the track address at which the audio signal record begins, ensuingaudio signal record track addresses, etc., are taken into a tableprovided within the memory at a step S40 of the FIG. 11. Further, in thefollowing description, an audio signal record extending over a pluralityof tracks hereinafter will be regarded as one unit and called an audiosignal sequence. Further, an audio signal record which comes to an endwithin a single track also will be called an audio signal sequence.

In storing the reproduction control data in the memory at the step S40in the flow of FIG. 11, the control code data included in the foursectors of the audio record track mentioned in the foregoing isreproduced by the information signal demodulation circuit 122 and isread out by the system controller 128. The information signaldemodulation circuit 122 is provided with the timing signal from thetiming signal generating circuit 125 for demodulation of the controlcode data. Meanwhile, to the timing signal generating circuit 125 issupplied the PG pulse signal from the PG pulse generator 21. The data isdemodulated in the following manner: When the start flag is detected foreach of the four sectors on the basis of the PG pulse signal, adetection signal is sent from the information signal demodulationcircuit 122 to the timing signal generating circuit 125. The circuit 125then forms the timing pulse signal on the basis of the detection signaland sends the timing pulse signal for the demodulation of the controlcode data.

Next, the operation for actually reproducing a video signal from themagnetic disc 1 is as follows: When the magnetic disc 1 is set in placethrough the flow of operation shown in FIG. 11, data for the recordscontained in all the tracks from the 50th track to the first trackformed on the magnetic disc 1 is automatically stored at the RAM 130.The flow of operation comes from a step S46 of FIG. 11 to a step S47 ofFIG. 12. At the step S47: The address N within the RAM is checked forthe data of "11" indicative of a video signal record track. If it isfound to be the video signal record track, the flow proceeds to a stepS48. At the step S48: The position of the switch SW3 is checked to findif the apparatus is set in the audio signal reproducing mode. If not,the flow proceeds to a step S49. At the step S49: A video signal mutingstate is cancelled and a reproduced video signal is allowed to beproduced and supplied to the monitor. The flow then proceeds to a stepS54 and comes to an end there. It should be noted that such a checkingflow may be replaced by that shown in FIG. 6. In case that the apparatusis found at the step S48 to have been set in the audio signalreproducing mode, the flow of operation comes to a step S50. At the stepS50: An audio reproduction sequence II which will be described later isexecuted. Then, the flow comes to a step S54 to end the operation. Ifthe data of the address N within the RAM is found not "11" at the stepS47, the flow comes to a step S51. At the step S51: The data of theaddress N of the RAM is checked to see if it is "10" for an audio signalrecord track. If not, the flow branches off to a step S54 to end theoperation there. If it is found to be "10," the flow proceeds to a stepS52. At the step S52: A check is made for the position of the switch SW3which is provided for setting the apparatus in the audio signalreproduction mode. If the apparatus is thus found to be not in the audiosignal reproduction mode, the flow comes to the step S54. In the case ofthe audio signal reproduction mode, the flow comes to a step S53 to havean audio reproduction sequence I executed in a manner as will bedescribed later. After completion of execution of the audio reproductionsequence I, the flow proceeds to the step S54 to end the operationthere.

Referring now to FIGS. 13(a) and 13(b), the flow of operation for theabove stated audio reproduction sequence I is as follows: In an audioreproduction sequence I (A) which is as shown in FIG. 13(a), thereproduction controlling data signal recorded in a currently accessedaudio signal record track is detected at a step A1. At a step A2: Theaudio signal reproduced from the accessed track is taken into the memory117. At a step A3: A track feeding action is performed according to thedata which is included in the reproduction control data signal detectedat the step A1 and is indicative of an applicable video signal recordtrack address. Then, a video signal muting state is cancelled. The flowcomes to a step A4. At the step A4: An audio signal muting state iscancelled. The audio signal stored at the memory is read out and theflow comes to a step A5. At the step A5: The read out audio signalbegins to be reproduced.

FIG. 13(b) shows the flow of operation of an audio reproduction sequenceI (B), wherein a reproducing action is performed beginning with theleader part (foremost part) of an audio sequence which includes thecurrently accessed audio signal record track (a track to which the headcurrently has access). At a step B1 of FIG. 13(b): A reproductioncontrol data signal which is recorded in the currently accessed audiosignal record track is discriminated. At a step B2: From the content ofthe data signal determination is made as to whether or not, thecurrently accessed track is the first of tracks included in an audiosequence. If the track is found to be not the first of them, the flowcomes to a step B3. At the step B3: The head is caused to have access tothe first track of the audio sequence consisting of tracks the tracknumbers of which are included in the reproduction control data signal.The flow then branches off to the step B1 to repeat the steps B1 and B2.Then, the flow comes from the step B2 to a step B4. At the step B4: Thereproduced audio signal is taken into the memory. At a next step B5: Thehead is shifted to an applicable video signal record track in the samemanner as at the above stated step A3. After that, an audio signalmuting state is cancelled with a video signal muting state alsocancelled. Then, audio reproduction begins. In taking the audio signalinto the memory, the memory controller 124 of FIG. 1 is controlled bythe system controller 128. At the same time, the A/D conversion circuit116 operates according to the timing signal produced from the timingsignal generating circuit 125 and the oscillation circuit 126, so thatdigital audio data can be taken into the memory 117. Following that, thesystem controller 128 causes the memory controller 124 to control aspeed at which reading from the memory 117 is performed on the basis ofthe data signal indicative of the time-base compressed rate of the audiosignal included in the audio reproduction control data. Then, a digitalaudio signal is read out from the memory according to the timing of theclock signal coming from the oscillation circuit 127. The digital audiosignal thus read out is digital-to-analog (D/A) converted and issupplied to the audio signal processing circuit 119 to be subjected tothe processes for noise reduction, etc. The audio signal which is thusprocessed is produced from a speaker 121 via an audio mute circuit 120.In accordance with the procedures of the audio reproduction sequence I(B) of FIG. 13(b), even in the event of reproduction of an audio signalrecord extending over a plurality of tracks with the head having accessto one of these tracks located at a part halfway in the audio signalrecord when an instruction for reproduction is received, the audiosignal record can be automatically reproduced from the beginningthereof. This arrangement makes the contents of the record adequatelyunderstandable.

Referring to FIG. 14, the audio reproduction sequence II is as follows:At a step C1: The audio signal reproduction control data signal isdiscriminated. Before coming to the flow of operation shown in FIG. 14,at least the audio signal reproduction control data signal has beencompletely read out at the step S40 of FIG. 11. The data for correlatingthe audio record track addresses with corresponding video signal recordtrack addresses are thus stored within the RAM. At the step C1, thereproduction control data signal stored within the RAM is checked forobtaining data of the audio signal track address corresponding to acurrently accessed video signal record track. At a step C2: While thevideo signal is muted, a track feeding action is performed to cause thehead to have access to a corresponding audio signal record track. At astep C3: The reproduced audio signal is taken into the memory. Step C4:Again the head is caused to have access to a video signal record trackcorresponding to the above stated audio signal record track. A videosignal muting state is cancelled. The flow proceeds to a step C5. At thestep C5: An audio signal muting state is cancelled. At a step C6: Audiosignal reproduction begins. Step C7: The flow of operation comes to anend. The audio signal is then reproduced in the same manner as mentionedin the foregoing.

In the still video signal recording format which is generally employed,the track number of a corresponding video signal track is recordedwithin each audio signal recording track. However, no reverseprescription has been provided. Therefore, when a currently accessedreproducing track is a video signal record bearing track, it has beenimpossible to reproduce an audio signal record from an audio signaltrack corresponding to the video signal track. Whereas, in accordancewith the arrangement of the embodiment, the corresponding audio signalrecord is reproducible.

Referring to FIGS. 15(a) and 15(b), the sequence of reproduction fromtracks under the operations of the up- and down-switches SW1 and SW2 ofFIG. 10 is as follows: The embodiment is assumed to have been set in theaudio signal reproducing mode by means of the switch SW3. The flow chartof FIG. 15(a) shows a program to be executed by timer interruption every10 msc against each of the flows of operation described in theforegoing.

At a step S101 of FIG. 15(a): The up-switch SW1 is checked. If theswitch SW1 is found on (i.e. in an on-state), the flow of operationproceeds to a step S102. Step S102: A value "1" is added to the countedvalue of a timer which is included in the system controller 128. StepS103: The counted value of the timer is checked to see if it is "1". Ifso, the flow proceeds to a step S104. Step S104: Video and audio signalsare muted. Step S105: A currently accessed track is checked to see if itis the 50th track. If not, the flow proceeds to a step S106. Step S106:A value "1" is added to the value of the track address data N. Thetrack-up action is performed by one track. Step S107: The newly accessedtrack is checked to see if it is a video signal record track. If so, theflow proceeds to a step S108. Step S108: The video signal muting stateis cancelled. If the accessed track is found to be not a video signalrecord track at the step S107, the flow comes to a step S109 to have avideo muting action performed there. At a step S110: The counted valueof the timer is checked to see if it is smaller than 100. The countedvalue 100 of the timer indicates that the up-switch SW1 has continued inits on-state for one sec. If the timer value is found to be not smallerthan 100, the flow proceeds to a step S111. At the step S111: The timeris set at 80. After that, therefore, the timer counts 20 from 80. Then,when the counted value of the timer reaches 100, the flow comes to thestep S105. Therefore, after the up-switch SW1 is continuously left inits on-state over a period of one sec, the track feeding action isresumed every 0.2 sec. Further, when the up-switch SW1 is found to be nolonger in its on-state at the step S101, the flow comes to a step S112.At the step S112: The currently accessed track is checked to see if itis an audio signal record track. If so, the flow proceeds to a step S113to execute the flow of the audio reproduction sequence. If not, the flowcomes to a step S114. At the step S114, the counted value of the timeris set at "0" and the flow of operation comes to an end.

In other words, with the up-switch SW1 operated during the process ofsound or audio (signal) reproduction, the audio reproduction isinhibited at least while the up-switch SW1 is in its on-state, i.e.during a fast track feeding action. Then, the fast feeding action isperformed at a given speed and repeated for every track. Further, incase that a first accessed track after the up-switch SW1 is turned offis an audio signal record track, the audio signal is reproduced byexecuting the flow of audio reproduction sequence. The operation to beperformed with the down-switch SW2 turned on is similarly describable.In that instance, the flow of operation is as shown in FIG. 15(b). Theflow of FIG. 15(b) differs from that of FIG. 15(a) in the followingpoints: At a step S101', a check is made for the position of thedown-switch SW2. At a step S105', a check is made for a state of N=1. Ata step S106', the value of data N is decremented by one (N=N-1) and atrack-down action is performed by one track. With the exception of thesepoints, the flow of FIG. 15(b) which relates to the operation of thedown-switch SW2 is the same as that of FIG. 15(a) which relates to theoperation of the up-switch SW1. Therefore, the following description ofthe flow charts covers only the flow relative to the operation of theup-switch SW1 while the difference of the flow relative to the operatorof the down-switch SW2 is similar to the difference described above.

FIG. 16 shows in a flow chart an embodiment of the invention which isarranged to control a track shifting action in such a way as to causethe head to have access only to video signal record tracks during a fastfeeding process performed by operating the up-switch SW1. In otherwords, the embodiment performs a track shifting sequence in areproducing mode in which priority is given to a video signal.

The flow of FIG. 16 is arranged, like in the case of flows shown inFIGS. 15(a) and 15(b), to execute a flow of operation by effecting timerinterruption every 10 msc. The steps of FIG. 16 which are the same asthose shown in FIG. 15(a) are omitted from description. Referring toFIG. 16, the up-switch SW1 is checked to see if it is in an on-state ata step S201. If so, the flow proceeds to a step S202. Step S202: A value"1" is added to the counted value of the timer. Step S203: The timer ischecked to see if its counted value is 1. If so, the flow proceeds to astep S204. Step S204: A currently accessed track is checked to see if itis the 50th track. If not, one is added to the data N and the track-upaction is performed to the extent of one track. The flow then comes to astep S206. At the step S206: The counted value of the timer is checkedto see if it is 80. The step S206 is provided for the purpose of findingwhether the apparatus has been brought into the fast feeding mode of 0.2sec by a continuous on-state of the up-switch SW1. Arrival of thecounted value of the timer at 80 indicates entrance into the fastfeeding mode. If the apparatus is thus found not to have assumed thefast feeding mode at the step S206, the flow proceeds to a step S207.Step S207: The video signal is muted and the flow comes to an end. Incase that the fast feeding mode is found to have been assumed at thestep S206, the flow comes to a step S208. At the step S208: Thecurrently accessed track is checked to see if it is a video signalrecord track. If not, the flow proceeds to a step S209. At the stepS209: The video signal is muted. The flow then comes back to the stepS204 to repeat the above stated steps. If the accessed track is found tobe a video signal record track at the step S208, the flow comes to thestep S207 to have the video signal muting state cancelled. In otherwords, in the case of this flow chart, the head is arranged to haveaccess only to video signal record tracks when there obtains the fastfeeding mode with the up-switch SW1 continuously pushed or operated.Then, the track feeding action is performed at intervals of timedetermined by the timer. During the track shifting process, tracks otherthan the video signal record tracks are skipped, so that the videosignal is alone allowed to be supplied to the monitor with the up-switchSW1 continuously operated. Therefore, the audio signal can be preventedfrom being reproduced as noises during fast feeding.

In the case of this flow, the step S211 enables the embodiment to bereleased from the video signal muting state at the step S207 withoutcoming to the step S208 only when the track-up action is performed forthe first time. This enables the record of a track other than the videosignal record track to be produced and supplied to the monitor. However,in order to ensure that the head comes to have access only to a videosignal record track whenever the track-up action is performed, the flowis arranged always to branch off at the step S206 to the step S208. Thatarrangement enables the track-up action to limit the reproducing tracksto the video signal record tracks.

Audio Preference Reproduction Mode--No. 1

FIG. 17 is a flow chart showing a sequence of steps, wherein the head isshifted by the operation of the up-switch SW1 only to such video signalrecord tracks that have corresponding audio signal records. In thiscase, the video signal record of any video signal record bearing trackthat has no corresponding audio signal record bearing track is notreproduced. In other words, the track feeding sequence is carried out bygiving priority to the audio signal record bearing tracks. The flow ofFIG. 17 is performed, like the flows of FIGS. 15(a), 15(b) and 16, bytimer interruption of 10 msec. The steps of FIG. 17 which are similar tothose of FIGS. 15(a), 15(b) and 16 are omitted from description.

Referring to FIG. 17, when the track feeding action is performed at astep S306, the flow proceeds to a step S307. At the step S307: Anaccessed track is checked to see if it is a video signal record track.If so, the flow proceeds to a step S308. At the step S308, a check ismade for the presence of an audio signal record track corresponding tothe video signal track. If there is a corresponding audio signal recordtrack, the flow proceeds to a step S309. If the accessed track is foundto be not a video signal record track at the step S307, the flow comesback to the step S305 to repeat the track-up action. Further, if nocorresponding audio signal record track is found at the step S308, theflow branches off to the step S305 to repeat the one-track-up action. Inshort, the flow comes to the step S309 only in cases where the accessedtrack is a video signal record track which has a corresponding audiosignal record track.

Audio Preference Reproduction mode--No. 2

FIG. 18 shows in a flow chart an embodiment of the invention which isarranged to effect a change from one audio reproduction sequence over toanother by the operation of the up-switch SW1. In some cases, one audiosignal sequence, i.e., one block of an audio signal, can be recordedwithin one and the same track. In other cases, the record of one blockof audio signal cannot be contained within one single track and extendsover a plurality of tracks. Each of these blocks of audio signal isreferred to herein as an audio signal sequence. In the case of FIG. 18,the embodiment is arranged not only to shift the head from a currentlyaccessed track to an adjoining track but also to reproduce the audiosignal of a next audio signal sequence which is other than an audiosignal sequence currently in the process of reproduction.

Further, in proceeding to the next sequence, the head first comes to avideo signal record track corresponding to the first of the tracksincluded in the audio signal sequence. The flow chart of FIG. 18 isbased on the assumption that at least the reproduction control signalsof the audio signal record tracks formed on the magnetic disc has beencompletely read out. At least the track address data of a video signalrecord track which corresponds to the first of audio signal recordtracks included in each audio signal sequence is assumed to have beenstored at the RAM 130 shown in FIG. 10.

Referring to FIG. 18, the flow of operation proceeds from a step S401 tosteps S402 and S403 one by one according to the operation of theup-switch SW1. At the step S403, the timer is checked to see if itscounted value is 1. If not, the flow proceeds to a step S404. At thestep S404, a currently reproducing track is checked to see if it belongsto the last of the audio signal sequences recorded on the magnetic disc,i.e., an audio signal sequence recorded in the innermost part of thedisc. The discrimination of position of the record track between theouter position and the inner position on the disc is made on the basisof the position of the foremost track of the audio signal sequences. Ifthe currently reproducing track is found to belong to the innermostaudio signal sequence at the step S404, the currently reproducing audiosignal sequence is the last of the sequences and the flow comes to astep S410. If not, the flow proceeds to a step S405. At the step S405:The head is caused to have access to a video signal record registered asthe reproduction control data signal of the foremost audio signal recordtrack of a next audio signal sequence which is located on the innerside. In this instance, the content of the audio reproduction controldata (signals) stored at the RAM 130 is used as reference. Followingthis, the flow proceeds to a step S406. Step S406: A video signal mutingstate is cancelled. Further, when the up-switch SW1 is turned off, theflow comes from the step S401 to a step S409. At the step S409: Audiosignal reproduction begins with the flow of the audio reproductionsequence executed.

In other words, the operation of the up-switch SW1 performed at thattime can be regarded as switching to a next audio signal sequence.

While FIG. 18 shows by way of example the switch-over operationperformed on the audio signal sequence by means of the up-switch SW1,such switch-over can be also performed by means of the down-switch SW2like in the cases of FIGS. 16 and 17. However, the details of sucharrangement are omitted herein.

In accordance with the arrangement of the embodiment shown in FIG. 18,one audio (signal) sequence can be simply switched over to another byjust operating either the up-switch SW1 or the down-switch SW2. It isanother advantage of the embodiment that, at the time of theswitch-over, the foremost signal record is reproduced, so that theefficiency of the operation can be greatly improved over the method ofmerely shifting the head to a next track.

Further, in the foregoing description of embodiment, the audiopreference reproduction mode--No. 1, the audio preference reproductionmode--No. 2 and the video preference reproduction mode are described asdiscrete arrangements. However, a single apparatus can be arranged to becapable of selecting any of these modes by means of a selection switchas desired.

Further, if an A/D converter and a field (or frame) memory are arrangedas indicated with broken lines in FIG. 10, the embodiment becomescapable of preventing the reproduced video signal from dropping offduring a video signal muting period by virtue of the arrangement totemporarily store at the memory the video signal to be supplied to themonitor. In this case, the video signal is arranged to be written intothe field memory at the timing which is the same as that of the step atwhich the video signal muting action or the cancellation thereof isperformed as shown in the flow charts described. For this purpose, astep for writing the video signal is provided in place of the videosignal muting step or the muting cancelling step. Therefore, until avideo signal writing action is performed, a video signal which haspreviously been written into the memory is read out from the memory andis supplied to the minitor. At the timing of the cancellation of muting,a video signal is newly written into the memory. Incidentally, it goeswithout saying that the reading action from the memory is continuouslyperformed at the video rate.

Further, in case that the above stated field memory is not included inthe embodiment, a drop-out would take place during the video signalreproduction by the video signal muting action performed when the headhas access to an audio signal record track. In that case, the embodimentis provided with an addition circuit which is arranged subsequent to thevideo muting control circuit 13, as indicated with a broken line in FIG.10, to produce a sum signal obtained by adding a video signal producedfrom a character generator to the output of the video muting controlcircuit. While the head is located over an audio signal record track,the monitor may be caused to make a display reading, for example, "audiosignal being taken in" by means of the character generator.

In accordance with the arrangement of the embodiment, as described inthe foregoing, the audio signal and the video signal are separatelyrecorded in different tracks. Even if the audio signal record tracks andthe video signal record tracks are commingled, the starting timing ofaudio signal reproduction becomes clear, because: the reproducing actionon the audio signal record track is performed after an operation on aselective track shift instructing switch is found to have come to anend. Therefore, the reproducing apparatus according to the inventionexcels in operability for a magnetic disc on which the video and audiosignals are recorded in a commingled state.

Further, each of the above stated reproduction modes is advantageous fora specific purpose. Therefore, the embodiment which is arranged to becapable of carrying out reproduction in any of these different modes byjust operating the up- and down-switches excels in operability.

In accordance with the arrangement of the embodiment described in theforegoing, audio signal reproduction is carried out when no renewal ofthe reproducing position is instructed by means of an operation part.This is an advantage in terms of operability.

A further embodiment of this invention which is a modification of theembodiment shown in FIG. 10 is provided with a stop switch STSW, a modesetting switch MDSW and an interval time setting switch INTSW asindicated by broken lines in FIG. 10 in addition to the components andparts described in the foregoing. These additional parts enable theembodiment to have additional functions, which will be described belowwith reference to FIGS. 19, 20 and 21 which are flow charts and tables:

The arrangement of this embodiment is, as mentioned above, similar tothat of the apparatus shown in FIG. 10 and, therefore, is omitted fromthe following description, which covers the operation of the systemcontroller 128 of the embodiment with reference to flow charts. In thebeginning of the operation, the system controller 128 detects thepresence or absence of a video or audio signal record in each of thetracks formed on the magnetic disc 1 in the same manner as in the caseof the flow chart of FIG. 11. This initial operation is as shown in aflow chart in FIG. 19. Referring to FIG. 19, at a step S501, an areaprovided within the RAM 130 for storing data about tracks is cleared. Ata step S502: The head 3 is allowed to have access to the first track ofthe disc (video floppy disc). If the accessed track is a video signalrecord track, a discrimination is made between a frame type record and afield type record. If the track is an audio signal record track, data orinformation contained in the track about the track number of theforemost track of the audio sequence, the track number of acorresponding video signal record track, etc., are reproduced andobtained by means of the information signal demodulation circuit 122 atthe step S503. At a step S504: The data thus obtained is stored atapplicable parts of a table provided within the RAM 130. Step S505: Acheck is made for the track number of the currently accessed track.Steps 503, S504, S505 and S506: The above stated actions are repeatedfor all the tracks formed on the disc.

An information table is thus prepared for each of the record tracksformed on the video floppy disc (or a magnetic disc). Upon completion ofthe table, the track number of a video signal record track located inthe outermost part of the disc is drawn out from the track informationtable. Step S507: A still picture obtained from the outermost videosignal record track is displayed on the monitor 15.

Steps S508 and S509: When the audio reproduction mode is selected bymeans of an operation panel switch or a remote control switch, areproducing operation begins and a reproduction routine is executed.

The reproduction routine is as shown in FIG. 20. Referring to FIG. 20,the track number of the foremost audio signal record track of the audiosequence to be reproduced is drawn out from the above stated trackinformation table prepared within the RAM 130 at a step S601. Step S602:The audio signal record of the track is reproduced and stored at thememory 17.Step S603: The head is shifted to a still image record trackwhich corresponds to the above stated audio signal record track by meansof a head shifting device and the head driving motor 5. The image thusobtained from the track is reproduced and displayed. Step S604: A checkis made for audio signal reproduction. If the audio signal is notproduced, that is, if no audio information is read out from the memory117, the flow comes to a step S605. At the step S605: The audio signalbegins to be produced. Step S606: The stop switch STSW checks to see ifit is in an on-state. If so, the flow branches off to a step S610. Ifnot, the flow proceeds to a step S607. A check is made for the amount ofthe audio signal remaining within the memory 117. When the remainingamount of the audio signal becomes insufficient requiring reproductionof the audio signal record of another track, the flow comes to a stepS608. At the step S608: A check is made to find whether the audiosequence is continuing or not. If the audio sequence is found to bestill continuing, the steps of flow from the step S602 are repeated.

If the audio sequence is found not continuing at the step S608, the flowproceeds to a step S609. At the step S609: The flow waits for thecompletion of the audio output without shifting to a next sequence. StepS610: A counter which is provided for access to the table is incrementedfor reproduction of the next audio signal sequence. The flow ofoperation shown in FIG. 20 is thus completely executed. The systemcontroller 128 then waits for a next input of mode instruction as shownat the steps S508 and S509.

The audio signal record track number to be obtained from the table atthe step S601 is arranged in the following manner: The description givenabove is on the assumption that the record track located in theoutermost position of the video floppy disc (or the magnetic disc) hasthe highest priority. For reading at the step S601, the table isprepared in varied manners for the following different reproductionmodes:

1) An audio sequence preference mode (a first mode): Reproduction isperformed beginning with the foremost track of an audio sequence locatedin the outermost position.

2) A video track preference audio sequence reproduction mode (a secondmode): Reproduction begins with a video signal record trackcorresponding to the foremost track of each audio sequence.

The details of the first and second modes are as described below withreference to FIGS. 21(a) to 21(c):

FIGS. 21(a) to 21(c) show whether each track has a video signal recordor an audio signal record; if it is a video signal record track, theyshow to which of the audio signal record tracks it corresponds; and, ifit is an audio signal record track, to which of the audio sequences itbelongs. Referring to FIG. 21(a), a line A/V indicates video signalrecord tracks with a symbol V and audio signal record tracks withsymbols of small alphabetical letters. The small alphabetical lettersymbols are used in the alphabetical order beginning with "a". The samesmall alphabetical letter is used for the same audio sequence and isfollowed by numeral suffixes, which are arranged in the order ofreproduction within the same audio sequence. Each of lines "audiosequence 1" and "audio sequence 2" shows the audio signal record tracksat corresponding video signal record tracks. In the line of "audiosequence 1," the audio signal record tracks of the audio sequence 1having corresponding video signal record tracks are indicated by thesame reference symbols a1, a2, etc., as in the line A/V. For example, atrack No. 2 has a video signal record and corresponds to an audio signalrecord track b1 which is, in this instance, a track No. 13.

With the data of each track recorded on the video floppy disc as shownin FIG. 21(a), the track number data is reproduced from a table asmentioned at the above stated step S601. This table is as shown in FIG.21(b). Referring to FIG. 21(b), in a part "track No.", the track numbersof the tracks to which the head 3 is having access are written in theorder of access from the left to the right in different mannersaccording to different modes of reproduction. FIG. 21(c) shows the tracknumbers of the tracks in the order of shifting the head for reproducingthe video signal with reproduction performed with reference to the FIG.21(b). In a first mode, i.e., a mode (1), for example, the track No. 11is first reproduced. Since this track bears the audio signal record, thehead 3 is shifted to the 11th track to reproduce the audio record. Thereproduced audio signal is written into the memory 117. Following this,the video signal record of the fourth track which corresponds to the11th track is reproduced. Then, the audio signal written into the audiomemory 117 is read out and is reproduced simultaneously with the videosignal of the fourth track. After that, according to a decrease in thecontents of the audio memory 117, the head 3 is shifted to the 12thtrack to reproduce its audio signal record to write it into the memory117. Then, the head 3 is shifted to the seventh track which has a videosignal record corresponding to the audio signal record of the 12thtrack. The video and audio signal reproduction is thus carried on in thesame manner for ensuing tracks arranged as shown in FIGS. 21(b) and21(c). In a second mode, i.e., a mode (2), if there are plurality ofaudio sequences, one of the sequences having its foremost trackcorrelated with a video signal record tracks located in the outermostposition among others is first reproduced. In other words, referringagain to FIG. 21(a), the foremost tracks of the audio sequence indicatedby symbols "a" and "b" are related respectively to the fourth and secondtracks which are bearing video signal records. In the case of the secondmode, therefore, the audio sequence "a" is first reproduced and isfollowed by the sequence "b."

In the first and second modes, any video signal record that has nocorrelated audio signal record is skipped and omitted from reproduction.Such being the arrangement, the embodiment is capable making soundreproduction from a speaker simultaneously with images. This is anadvantage in terms of operability.

There are other modes in which the video signal records which areskipped in the first and second modes can be reproduced in series. Thesemodes are as follows:

A third mode, or mode (3): In addition to the operation performed in thefirst mode, priority is given to a video signal record of a track whichhas no corresponding audio signal record in shifting the head from theoutermost side of the disc for reproduction. After that, the first modeis carried out. An example of operation in the third mode is asdescribed below:

In this case, the video signal records of the first and third trackswhich have no corresponding audio signal record tracks are firstreproduced. The second track, in this case, has a video signal recordcorresponding to an audio sequence to be reproduced in the second placeand is therefore skipped. Next, the records of a series of tracksbelonging to the audio sequence related to the video signal record ofthe fourth track are reproduced along with the video signal record.After completion of reproduction of this audio sequence, an audiosequence related to the video signal record of the second track isreproduced along with the video signal record.

A fourth mode, or a mode (4): The operation in this mode is similar tothe third mode with the exception of that it corresponds to the secondmode. The details of it are, therefore, omitted from detection. In thefourth mode, the track number of a video signal record trackcorresponding to the foremost track of each audio sequence is comparedwith the track number of another video signal record track having nocorresponding audio signal record and the video signal records arereproduced from the track of a smaller track number.

Further, in the third and fourth modes, the head is automaticallyinhibited from being shifted at the timing of stop marks ".rightbrkt-bot." and is kept in that state until the up-switch SW1 or thedown-switch SW2 is operated. However, in fifth and sixth modes, or modes(5) and (6), the shift of head is never inhibited like in the third andfourth modes. In other words, in the fifth and sixth modes, the accessposition of the head is automatically renewed at preset time intervals.

The embodiment described is thus arranged to look up data for each trackbeforehand, to store it and to perform reproduction in one of variouspredetermined modes. The arrangement enables the embodiment toadequately reproduce the whole record even in the event of a recordbearing medium having audio and video signals recorded thereon in acommingled state.

An advantageous feature of the embodiment also resides in the proceduresof reproduction in the first to sixth modes described.

The embodiment described is arranged to use a disc-shaped record bearingmedium. However, the usable medium is not limited to that kind. Atape-shaped or card-shaped medium shown in FIG. 9(a) or 9(b) is likewiseusable for the embodiment. Further, the medium may be a solid-statememory such as a semiconductor memory.

The arrangement of this embodiment, as described in the foregoing, iscapable of adequately reproducing signals even from such a medium thathas a plurality of audio sequences, each consisting of records of asignal which continues timewise over a plurality of tracks, becausethese audio sequences can be serially reproduced according to the tracknumber assigned to the foremost track of each audio sequence.

What is claimed is:
 1. A reproducing apparatus for reproducing a signalfrom a plurality of different areas of a recording medium on which aplurality of video signals and a plurality of audio signalscorresponding to said plurality of video signals are respectivelyrecorded, comprising:a) reproduction means for reproducing a signal fromsaid plurality of different areas of said recording medium on which thesignals are respectively recorded; b) reproduction mode designatingmeans having a first reproduction mode wherein groups of the videosignals and the audio signals corresponding to said video signals havingrespectively been recorded on the plurality of different areas of therecording medium, are successively reproduced and having a secondreproduction mode wherein the video signals having been recorded on theplurality of different areas of the recording medium are successivelyreproduced whereas said audio signals corresponding to some of saidvideo signals are not reproduced, for designating either one of saidfirst reproduction mode and said second reproduction mode to saidreproduction means; c) detection determining means for detecting an arearecorded with a video signal from among the plurality of different areason the recording medium, and determining whether said video signalrecorded on the detected area is one of the video signals whosecorresponding audio signal is recorded on other area than said area tobe detected; and d) control means for controlling the reproduction meansso as to detect by said detection determining means, when the firstreproduction mode is designated by said reproduction mode designatingmeans, areas recorded with the video signals whose corresponding audiosignals are recorded on other areas then said areas to be detected,among all the video signals recorded on the plurality of different areasof the recording medium, reproduce the audio signals recorded on saidother areas which correspond to said video signals recorded on thedetected areas, store temporarily the reproduced audio signals, thenreproduce from the recording medium the video signals corresponding tosaid audio signals stored temporarily, and to output thereby the videosignals thus reproduced along with the audio signals stored temporarily,and to detect by said detection determining means, when the secondreproduction mode is designated by said reproduction mode designatingmeans, areas recorded with the video signals alone from among theplurality of different areas on the recording medium, and to reproducesuccessively said video signals recorded on the detected areas.
 2. Anapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the video signal indicate apicture image of a screen.
 3. An apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe recording medium includes a disk-shaped recording medium.
 4. Anapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reproduction modeinstruction means includes a mode selection switch for selecting thefirst reproduction mode and the second reproduction mode, which areoperated by an operator.
 5. An apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe video signals recorded on the different areas of the recordingmedium in the second reproduction mode are successively reproduced at apredetermined period for reproduction.
 6. A reproducing apparatus forreproducing a signal from a plurality of different areas of a recordingmedium on which a plurality of audio signals, a plurality of first videosignals corresponding to said plurality of audio signals and a pluralityof second video signals inconsistent with said plurality of audiosignals are respectively recorded, comprising:a) reproduction means forreproducing a signal from said plurality of different areas of saidrecording medium on which the signals are respectively recorded; b)reproduction mode designating means having a first reproduction modewherein groups of an the audio signals and the first video signalscorresponding to said audio signals, having respectively been recordedon said plurality of different areas of the recording medium, aresuccessively reproduced whereas said second video signals inconsistentwith any of said audio signals are not reproduced and having a secondreproduction mode wherein said second video signals inconsistent withany of said audio signals are successively reproduced whereas said firstvideo signals corresponding to some of said audio signals are notreproduced, for designating either one of said first reproduction modeand said second reproduction mode to said reproduction means; c)detection determining means for detecting an area recorded with a videosignal from among the plurality of different areas on the recordingmedium, and determining whether the video signal recorded on thedetected area is a first video signal or a second video signal; and d)control means for controlling the reproduction means so as to detect bysaid detection determining means, when the first reproduction mode isdesignated by said reproduction mode designating means, areas recordedwith the first video signals among all the video signals recorded on theplurality of different areas of the recording medium, reproduce theaudio signals which correspond to said first video signals recorded onthe detected areas and are recorded on other areas than said detectedareas, store temporarily the reproduced audio signals, then reproducefrom the recording medium the video signals corresponding to the audiosignals stored temporarily, and to output the video signals thusreproduced along with the audio signals stored temporarily, and todetect by said detection determining means, when the second reproductionmode is designated by said reproduction mode designating means, areasrecorded with either the first video signals or the second video signalsfrom among the plurality of different areas on the recording medium, andto reproduce successively either the first video signals or the secondvideo signals recorded on said detected areas.
 7. An apparatus accordingto claim 6, wherein the first video signal or the second video signalindicates a picture image of a screen.
 8. An apparatus according toclaim 6, wherein the recording medium includes a disk-shaped recordingmedium.
 9. An apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the reproductionmode instruction means includes a mode selection switch for selectingthe first reproduction mode and the second reproduction mode, which areoperated by an operator.
 10. An apparatus according to claim 6, whereinthe video signals recorded on the different areas of the recordingmedium in the first and second reproduction modes are successivelyreproduced at a predetermined period for reproduction.